Rising Volatility in Levels Of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Fragments in SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance Programme is Flagged

Cape Town | Dr Mongezi Mdhluli, leader of the South African Medical Research Council’s (SAMRC) Wastewater Surveillance Programme, has described how their research team is observing increasing volatility in recent weeks in the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in wastewater samples.

The SAMRC operates a wastewater research and surveillance programme, partly as a potential basis for an early warning system for COVID-19. On a weekly basis the SAMRC team, in collaboration with their laboratory and municipal partners, collects samples of wastewater from more than 70 wastewater treatment plants across four provinces in the country, to test for non-infectious RNA fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.

“After a period of nearly two months of being predominantly very low, the levels of SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments in wastewater are now increasingly variable,” said Dr Mdhluli. While the concentrations of the non-infectious SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragments remain low relative to what we saw in wastewater at the height of the third COVID-19 wave, it is notable that the increasingly volatility in viral fragment loads are now being observed at wastewater treatment plants in both urban and rural areas, as well as in all provinces in which the SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance Programme is underway (the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo and Western Cape provinces).

“Although the rising SARS-CoV-2 RNA fragment volatility that we are currently observing in our Wastewater Surveillance Programme does not necessarily equate to the start of a fourth COVID-19 wave at this stage, we believe it is a signal to which we need to pay very close attention, especially when coupled with the increase in COVID-19 cases, as well as hospitalizations, that we have been seeing in recent days,” said Professor Glenda Gray, President of the SAMRC.

“While we cannot at this point say that we are on the cusp of a fourth wave of COVID-19, it is nevertheless prudent for all South Africans to ensure that they, and their loved ones, become vaccinated as soon as possible; at the very least before the upcoming holiday season,” said Professor Gray, adding that the evidence showing that vaccination dramatically reduces COVID-19 disease, hospitalization and death is unequivocal, and the most powerful prevention measure we have at this time.  

“At a global level each and every one of us has a role to play in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic, and in this regard, vaccination and our personal behaviour are the main keys,” she said. She urged all South Africans to increase their vigilance, and to adhere strictly to the simple but powerful, non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 prevention measures we have at our disposal, including:

• Wearing a mask
• Use of hand sanitizer
• Keeping a distance of at least 1.5 metres from others
• Avoiding gatherings
• When gatherings are unavoidable, preferably hold them in outdoor spaces. While indoors, open as many windows and doors as possible to increase ventilation.

NOTE TO THE EDITOR

Further information on the SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance Programme may be obtained on their Dashboard at www.samrc.ac.za/wbe.